BLOG 30 July 2021

Dorset

Two months has passed since my last blogpost. Shocking! But explicable: too much work (notably the release of a new book) and no time to even go through images. I'll try and make amends, as it has been a rather exciting period, even without much in the way of travel. I'll start with ten days in Dorset: three at Portland Bill Bird Observatory (where Martin and Erin were ever jovial, helpful and stellar) and seven on Purbeck. I did plenty of mothing - warm nights helped, although the northerly wind prevented much in the way of immigration, so it was mainly a case of resident interest. That said, who knows where the most surprising moth of the trip might have come from: I netted Portland's first Drab Looper on the eastern cliffs. This nationally scarce woodland resident breeds on wood spurge in NE Dorset and Hants, with two generations per year (May-Jun and sometimes Aug). So this could be a local wanderer. Either way the encounter was exciting - more so than the species's name might lead you to believe.

A similar query relates to the origin of the Light Crimson Underwing caught in the Obs traps: a wanderer from the New Forest or an immigrant? Either way, it was new for me, so I was chuffed. There was plenty else around Portland. Lots of Lulworth Skippers, a few Four-spotted, Balearic Shearwater, Roseate Tern and a few new micros for me, including Caloptilia cuculipennella. Sadly, I couldn't locate adult Eudarcia richardsoni, despite two attempts; nor Large Tortoiseshell (which ought to have emerged while we were there).

There was so much to see on Purbeck too - including one particularly special critter that will have to await a separate blogpost in due course. The moth highlight was catching three Lappet (the first I had caught myself of the extraordinary part-leaf, part-wobble), but a range of nice creatures such as Dingy Mocha (at a new site), Dotted-border Waves, Dark Tussock, Lunar Hornet Moth, Orange-tailed Clearwing, numerous Brussels Lace/Kent Black Arches/Small Emerald were also fun. Two Agnoea josephina and one Nemapogon koenigi were probably each a good Dorset record, as was Citron Plume. Butterflies included a few more Lulworth Skippers, plus many Silver-studded Blues, several Grayling and a few Dark Green Fritillary. Odonata included Southern Damselfly alongside Small Red Damselflies, Keeled Skimmers, Gold-ringed Dragonflies and Black Darters. Heathland birds included Nightjar, Dartford Warbler and Woodlark. I had just written a Back from the Brink factsheet about the electric-blue Pondweed Leafhopper, so seeing that species was a treat. So too finally catching up with Large Marsh Grasshopper - including the candy pink-purple phase of the female. Bare-ground invertebrates were a delight: I bumped into several Purbeck Mason Wasp, plus many Heath Bee-fly and Mottled Bee-fly. Purbeck truly never fails to enchant.